Pages

Facebook

11/27/13

Small Engine Repair- OH MY GAWD!!!

While I haven’t perused their entire catalogue, the Coen brothers are some of my all-time favorite filmmakers. And if asked a few years ago, I would have told you that them writing for the theater was an inspired idea. But their two attempts (or at least, Ethan Coen’s attempts) - his installment in Relatively Speaking and this fall’s Woman or Nothing - have not made any favorable impressions and they are a FAR CRY from any of their achievements on the big screen.

With Small Engine Repair, which opened last week at the Lucille Lortel Theater, I feel like we finally got our Coen Brothers production, both stylistically and in quality. Although, full disclosure, the premise and setting - three Boston guys reuniting in a repair shop for a night of hijinx - made me think of those Boston-set, Ben Affleck-directed films (in a good way) crossed with an earlier Coen brothers feature. But enough with the movie references.Just as its short run-time suggests, Small Engine Repair is rather quick-paced and creates an atmosphere early-on. It could also arguably be one of the most “bro-iest” productions I have ever seen, with the foul language and misogyny on display. But even with the show on hyperdrive, the first half of it registers as a little empty. While we get a sense of the backstory and the characters before us - by all means, no small feat - the show bides its time until the twist/climax/whatever kicks in. I found myself scratching my head at the point of it all - complete with some clunky, inserted and chunkily-inserted dialogue slamming social media (uhh, what?). As I reflect now, the EPIC second half of the show dominates all recollection of the first half.Having said that, I should have seen it for the set-up it was. Well, let me tell you…Shit.Goes.Down. I can’t really divulge too much without spoiling the story - minor hints, they involve some dude-on-dude (stage-acting) physical and sexual assault - but it bears repeating. SHIT. GOES. DOWN.And it is one of the most entertaining, enthralling, disturbing and darkly comedic twists in the proceedings I have ever seen. Sitting in the first row certainly added to the experience - I felt like I was an accomplice to what transpired on stage. Major kudos to the ensemble for showing up to play - John Pollono (who also wrote the show), Keegan Allen, James Ransone and James Badge Dale. Badge Dale, in particular, is giving a pitch-perfect performance, channeling a Jeremy Renner-esque brash presence and swagger.And the folks at MCC Theater deserve some credit for mustering up the gonads to depict some “tricky” (and some would even call it “uncomfortable") live-staging moments. Carrie had…well, its Carrie moments and Really Really featured date rape. And now, Small Engine Repair raised the bar with some physical and sexual assault. Expect S&M or torture or castration in a future outing. Keep raising that bar, you guys!Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich